Silverware blanket and drawer



INVENTOR.

M. l. NAKEN SILVERWARE BLANKET AND DRAWER Filed Sept. 2a. 1958 Sept; 13, 1960 kmh a United States Patent SILVERWARE BLANKET AND DRAWER Morris I. Naken, 3180N. Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, 111. Filed Sept; 23, 1958, Ser. No. 7 62,837

' 1 Claim. or. 21-25 This invention relates to silverware and more particulady to a novel silverware. blanket for covering a tray containing such silverware.

According to prior art practices, the tray is covered, with a soft nonabrasive material such as felt and the blanket is made ofsimilar material; Both the tray covering and the blanket may be impregnated with any conventional tarnish inhibitor. However, to achieve best resuits: inkeepingthe silverware free from tarnish, it is desirable that the blanket completely cover the tray, so that the inhibitor which is generally volatile at room temperature: may be retained in the tray contacting all surfaces of the silverware.

A primary disadvantage of prior art blankets has been the difficulty of keeping the tray completely covered by the blanket due to a tendency for the latter to slide forw-ardly of the rear edge of the tray as the blanket is pulled to; cover the front edge: of the. tray. Inasmuch as the blanket must be lifted and replaced each time one or more pieces of silverware is removed from or returned to the tray, proper placement of the blanket becomes a tiresome chore with the result that careless handling of the blanket occurs and tarnishing of the silverware takes place because the tray is not completely covered.

Moreover, prior art blankets have been difficult to handle, requiring the use of both hands in placing the blanket on the tray. I

According to the invention, the foregoing difiiculties have been eliminated.

A primary object of the present invention is to provide a handle on the rear edge of the blanket for convenient handling thereof.

Another object of the invention is to provide means on the handle for releaseably interlocking the blanket with the tray.

A more specific object of the invention is to afford a flange projecting forwardly from the handles front face which bears against the tr-ays rear wall, the flange and front surface cooperating, respectively, with the top edge and rear surface of the rear wall to afford a quickly releasable interlock preventing the blanket from slipping forwardly as its front edge is pulled across the front edge of the tray.

Another object of the invention is to devise a handle so shaped as to afford a convenient grip by the users fingers which may be inserted between the rear surface of the handle and a rear Wall of a drawer containing the tray, the users thumb gripping the forward edge of the flange.

A dilferent object of the invention is to provide means on the handle for abutting the rear wall of the drawer in the event that the handle tends to tip forwardly during pulling on the blanket, whereby release of the handle by other than a lifting force thereon is prevented.

Yet another object of the invention is to afford an unusually sturdy attachment between the blanket and handle in such manner that all surfaces of the handle which could in normal usage contact the silverware, the

2 tray, and the drawer are completely covered by the blanket material.

The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from a consideration of the following specification and the accompanying draw- 7 Figure 4 is a sectional view comparable to Figure2but showing the handle ina tilted position interlocked with the rear walls of the tray and drawer against further tilting.

Describing the invention in detail, the novel silverware blanket generally designated 2 inthe drawings isillustrated therein as applied to a silverware tray 3- within a drawer 4 such as is commonly used to store silverware in a buffet or breakfront (not shown).

The tray 3 comprises a bottomwall 6 and spaced front and back walls 8 and 10 upstanding therefrom, said walls having their external surfaces covered bya layer of fabric 12, such as felt or other suitable material pref erably impregnated with a tarnish inhibitor of any desired formulation. A center rib 14 is attached to the top of the bottom wall'6 and extends generally paralleltothe frontand back walls. 8: and- 10, said rib being similarly covered with the fabric 12 andihaving a plurality of parallel slots 16' to retain and support pieces; of.

silverware (not shown) in spaced relationship to each other so that the tarnish inhibitor, which is volatile at room temperature, can contact all surfaces of each piece.

The novel blanket 2 comprises along its rear edge a rib or handle 18 attached in any desired manner as by adhesive at 20 and screws at 22 to a segment of felt or other suitable material which constitutes the body 24 of the blanket and is preferably impregnated with a tarnish inhibitor.

The rib 18 comprises a downwardly and rearwardly sloping back surface 26 which defines with a rear wall 28 of the drawer 4 a V-shaped aperture or slot 30 into which the users fingers (not shown) may be inserted during application of the blanket to the tray 3 and removal of the blanket therefrom.

The rib 18 comprises a front surface 32 which is preferably vertical and is interrupted by a slot 34 extending rearwardly toward the back surface 26 and preferably from end to end of the rib 18.

The body 24 of the blanket is doubled over as at 36 for reception within the slot 34 and is releaseably anchored therein as by the screws 22, the heads 38 of which are seated against a top surface 40 of the rib 18.

The rib 18 also comprises a ledge or flange 42 overlying the slot 34 and presenting a downwardly facing abutment for support by the rear wall 10 of the tray 3; and the rib is releaseably interlocked with the rear wall 10 by abutment of the front surface 32 of the rib 18 with said rear wall 10, so that normal pulling on the blanket body 24, as for example when covering silverware in the tray 3, cannot pull the rib forwardly.

Moreover, pulling on the blanket body 24 cannot cause excessive forward tipping of the rib 18 and consequent release thereof from the rear tray wall 10 because of the interlock of flange 42 with the top of the wall 10, and particularly in combination with the interlock of the lower rear edge 44 of sloping back surface 26 with the rear wall 28 of the drawer 4, as best seen in Figure 4.

Figure 2 illustrates the manner in which blanket body 24 preferably covers the lower surface of flange 42, the

front surface'32 and a bottom surface 46 of the rib 18 and preferably extends slightly beyond the edge 44 as at 48, so that contact of the rib 18 with the drawer 4 and tray 3 iscompletely cushioned by the blanket body 24. This is a" highly desirable feature of the invention; however, it will be understood that if this cushioning is deemed unnecessary, the body of the blanket may be attached in any desired manner to the rib 18.

In applying the novel blanket 2 to the tray 3, the

handle or rib 18 is lifted by the user with one or more fingers of one hand grasping the rear surface 26 and the thumb of the same hand grasping the forward edge of flange 42. The rib 18 is then inserted between the walls and 28 and is released, whereupon the rib 18 may drop into the position shown in Figure 3 or may tilt slightly to the position shown in Figure 2. As the blanket body 24 is pulled to cover the entire tray, the rib 18 assumes the position shown in Figure 3. If a stronger than normal pull is accidentally exerted on the blanket body, the rib 18 may tilt to the position of Figure 4, at which point the rib 18 is interlocked against accidental removal by' further tilting.

'1 The blanket 2 maybe quickly and conveniently removed by grasping the rib 18 in one hand as heretofore described and lifting the rib from between the walls 10 and 28, whereupon the blanket body 24 may be pulled off the tray by means of the rib which thus functions as a handle.

Thus it will be understood that the novel blanket is simple and economical in construction and is sufficiently sturdy to ensure long life in service. Moreover, the rib 18 not only functions as a convenient handle but as a lock bar which, when dropped into place, enables the user to pull the blanket body snugly over the tray with 4 edge of the tray thereby uncovering a portion of the silverware therein.

While the present invention has been explained and described with reference to specific embodiments of structure, it will be understood, nevertheless, that numerous modifications and variations are susceptible of being incorporated without departure from the essential spirit or scope thereof. Accordingly, it is not intended for an one hand if desired, and without danger of accidentally pulling the rear edge of the blanket body past the rear understanding of this invention to be limited by the foregoing description nor by the illustrations in the annexed drawings, except as indicated in the hereinafter appended claims.

What is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent of the United States is as follows:

In a silverware blanket to cover a tray within a drawer having a rear wall spaced from a rear wall of the tray; the combination of a rib having a front surface abuttable with the rear wall of the tray and having a flange projecting forwardly from said front surface, the flange being abuttable with the top of said tray wall, a rear surface on said rib sloping downwardly and rearwardly toward the drawer wall and terminating in a bottom edge engageable with the drawer wall to limit further tipping of the rib, a slot in said rib extending rearwardly from said front surface, a blanket body covering said front surface and the bottom of said flange, said body having a double portion in said slot and means anchoring said portion in said slot.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,916,984 Naken July 4, 1933 FOREIGN PATENTS 669,058 Great Britain Mar. 26, 1952 

